We May Never Have to Move Again?

“There is a good possibility…living here…we may never have to move again.

Unless we want to, of course.”

Those words, spoken by my husband, would evoke a voluminous “WAHOO!” with full ticker tape parade from most military spouses I know. So why was my inner voice only quietly and meekly whispering “yay,” while waving a flag with the sound of a single kazoo playing in the background instead?

There is every reason in the world I should be spinning cartwheels, risking life and limb of everyone around me, at the thought of staying put: we purchased our house, the boys love their schools and sports teams, the culture and endless things to do and see, and we have a great group of friends and neighbors that make life pleasant and fun.

Is it the fast pace of life that makes me less than thrilled to stay here?

How about the pressure that can be imposed on children to keep up with the academic and supremely athletic Joneses in the Northern Virginia area?

Is it that I wish I had known we were setting roots so I could have started my own continuing education sooner?

Is it that I now wish we had bought a house with a better backyard, and countertops that aren’t green, since I might have to look at them for the unforeseeable future?

Is it that I am not ready for the adventure of living in new places to come to a melodramatic end?

I should be happy, soooo … what is preventing me from not reveling in the thought of never having to unpack a house full of boxes ever again? I can now think about the purchase big girl furniture without the fear of it becoming dinged and dented by movers. Our boys could have the opportunity attend all the same schools, have the same alma mater, and even learn under the same teachers. I can send out “we are NOT moving” address cards. I can get a job, keep that job, and build a network.

We can build a life.

Of course, this is all hypothetical. Maybe that is why I am not running through the flower-filled fields of my mind. It’s knowing that is all a possibility and not concrete. Why get all excited? I know as soon as I do, we will get notice of a PCS.

Maybe the real reason is that I just don’t want to jinx it.

About Heidi

Married to her high school sweetheart/AD Air Force man, Heidi was initially reluctant to life as a dependent, finally drank the Kool-Aid, and has since embraced being an active Air Force spouse. With a background in sports medicine, she has no real reason to write other than she enjoys it and likes to get others thinking. Heidi enjoys at-will employment as a substitute teacher, serving as an Arlington Lady, mothering two boys, rehabbing their short sale home purchase, recovering from a case of volunteeritis, correcting her verb tense, and learning more acronyms.